The term xe2x80x9chyperspectralxe2x80x9d for remote sensing applications is applied to the technology of acquiring hundreds of discrete, contiguous, narrow bands of data over the entire super band in which the sun provides illumination to the earth. On the other hand, the term xe2x80x9cmultispectral,xe2x80x9d in spite of its literal meaning, has in the past and does still usually refer to two spectrum bands that are not contiguous. Hyperspectral data acquisition in the visible, mid-infrared and long wavelength infrared can lead to a three-dimensional data cube that contains far more information than multispectral by itself. Current hyperspectral imaging sensors are capable of acquiring data in 10 nanometer bands, thus providing sufficient resolution to identify the specific materials composing the targeted objects.
The accurate detection, recognition and/or identification of targets from surveillance platforms, be they airborne or ground-based, is of ever-increasing significance in the modem battlefield where sophisticated camouflage and countermeasures run rampant. At present, the typical surveillance platform collects multiple electromagnetic spectra to help in the detection of targeted objects and any subsequent target discrimination. The fidelity of this process is dependent on the discrimination content of the multi-spectra information and, to a large extent, on the quality and fidelity of the individual sensor data. The information thus collected by the surveillance platforms has the potential to provide the current target signature, including the target location, which may be either stationary or dynamic. It is obvious that compatibility between the collected hyperspectral/multispectral data of the target scene and the selected weapon sensor is highly desirable if best use is to be made of the target data by the weapon to obtain tactical precision strike. Increased accuracy in target strike would also tend to negate the effects of camouflage and override intentional or serendipitous obscuration of the target.
However, the currently available weapon sensor is typically a broad-band focal plane array (FPA) that is not able to take full advantage of the information contained in the hyperspectral/multispectral data. Even in the newer FPA devices that have the capability to provide more than one band, the available bands are still relatively broad compared to the narrow, contiguous bands comprising the hyperspectral data. What is needed is a system that allows periodic updates of the target signature by manipulating the collected multispectral/hyperspectral data to derive from it a data subset that is most relevant to the selected target and at the same time most compatible with the capabilities of the selected weapon sensor and, further, allows the transmission of the data subset to the weapon via currently available data links.
The Multispectral-Hyperspectral Sensing System (MHSS) integrates a control center, a surveillance platform and at least one weapon battery whose sensing and destroying capabilities are known. The control center possesses some pre-existing information relative to the target scene and potential targets as well as the capabilities and limitations of the available weapon battery. This pre-existing information is communicated to the surveillance platform which takes it into account while selectively collecting hyperspectral/multispectral image data of the target scenery and derive from it the relevant data subset. The relevant data subset is then down-linked to the control center, which performs further processes to make it useful to the selected weapon. The weapon receives the target signature update from the control center and is enabled to make a more precise strike at the selected target with much reduced collateral damage and time lapse between the target sensing and target destruction.